Bearing Names before the Lord

 We use names to represent people and other things. When we call out a name, we are addressing another person or we are referring to them as we talk with others. The name may be called for various reasons, but one of the greatest reasons we call out another person's name is when we intercede to the Lord for them in prayer. It is a precious privilege and responsibility for us, as believers.

When God gave Moses the instructions about how to build the Tabernacle and all of its furnishings, He told him how to make the clothes for the Aaron and his sons, as the high priest and the priests. (Exodus 28:12) He instructed Moses to put two stones on the shoulders of the ephod as memorial stones for the sons of Israel. In that way Aaron would bear their names before the Lord on his two shoulders as a memorial. We can do the same thing today as we pray.

I would encourage all of us, as believers, to have a prayer list. We should use it to record the names of the people we want to bring before the Lord on a regular basis. Along with the names we should have the specific requests we want to make for them. I know we can't pray for everyone in our life every day, but we can pray for family every day. Also, there are certain people the Lord lays on our heart to pray for, and we should bear their names before the Lord each day.

It is not enough just to ask the Lord to bless our family or to heal those who are sick. We need to lift up the names and needs of specific individuals to the Father, as we pray in Jesus name and authority. I believe we should extend this to praying for fellow believers in our church, our elected officials, our missionaries, and other groups of people. This is God's plan for us as we talk with Him each day. Then, when He answers our prayers, we can record the answer on our list and give Him thanks.

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Tomorrow, I intend to read Exodus 29-31.